Paint-brush.



V No. 782.530. PATENTED FEB. 14; 1905. l

o. W. SWANSON.

PAINT BRUSH.

, APPLICATION FILED DBO. 5, 190a. RENEWED JAN. 9, 1905.

A 7'TOHNE Y Patented February 14, 1905.

. PATENT OFFICE.

CARL W. SWANSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PAINT-BRUSH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 782,530, dated February14, 1905.

Application filed December 5, 1903. Renewed January 9, 1905. Serial No.240,189.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CARL W. SWANSON, a citirapid manipulation of thebrush when used for lining and similar fine work, where the spread ofthe bristles and the application of the paint delivered thereby isrequired to be uniform and even along a straight line, as where two ormore diiferent colors are applied side by side to the same or adjacentsurfaces and their meeting margins are required to be sharp anddistinct. Nice work of this character when executed with the ordinarypaintbrush, requires a steady hand and painstaking care on the part ofthe painter and is a laborious and time-consuming operation even at thehands of the most experienced and skilled workmen. My invention isdesigned to render such work easier and quicker of performance andsuperior as to results; and to these ends my invention consists in thecombination, with the usual form of paint-brush, of an attachment in thenature of a guard or shield having the peculiarities of construction andcooperation with the brush fiber, substantially as hereinafter describedand claimed. My invention will be readily understood when considered inconnection with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a preferredembodiment thereof, and wherein Figure 1 is a plan view of a brushequipped with my attachment, the latter being shown in advanced oroperative position relatively to the brush fiber. Fig. 2 is a centrallongitudinal sectional view thereof with the guard or shield shown inretracted or inoperative position; and Fig. 3 is an end view of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, A designates the head of the brush, B thehandle, herein shown as integral with the head, C the bunch of bristlesor other brush fiber secured in or to the head, andD the thin band orferrule surrounding the joint between the brush-fiber and head,

in cross-section to embrace and have a loose sliding fit on and over thehead and fiber of the brush. One side of the shank E of the guard has anintegral rearwardly-extending arm F terminating in an apertured orslotted inwardly-turned end portionf. These several parts E, E, F, and fof the guard may conveniently and cheaply be cut and bent intotherequired forms from a single blank of some suitable thin sheet metal,such as tin.

G designates each of a pair of lugs or cars extending outwardly from andat right angies to the .opposite sides, respectively, of the shank ofthe guard, which lugs may simply and conveniently be formed by cuttingout and bending back integral portions of the metal of the guard, asshown.

As a means for maintaining the guard normally retracted and the brushfiber exposed I have shown the head and handle of the brush as providedwith a continuous longitudinally-extendinggroove H in one side thereof,in which is fixedly mounted a rod Z, constituting a guide and supportfor a coil-spring K, surrounding the same. One end of this springabutsagainst the inner end wall of the groove H, while its other end abutsagainst the apertured or slotted end f of the arm F, which slidinglyembraces the guide-rod Z.

4 The manner of operating the brush is as follows: The spring K normallykeeps the guard retracted, as shown in Fig.2, so that the outer andchief operative portion of the brush fiber is exposed, and the brush maybe used'the same as any ordinary brush for body-work and coarse or roughapplications of a single or continuous color; but when the brush is tobe used for linework, as in trimmings and the like, and clean, sharp,clear margins are required, the operator after having dipped the brushpushes down the guard by pressing his finger against one or the other ofthe lugs G until the face of the brush fiber C adjacent to the marginalline to be formed is nearly covered by the guard-plate E, as shown inFig. 1. This limits and determines the degree of spread of the bristleson that side of the brush according to the extent to which the bristlesare covered by the guard-plate, making the limited amount of spreadsubstantially even and uniform and not liable to produce perceptiblevariations in the resultant work due to variations in the pressureapplied to the brush. This enables the brush to be manipulated much morerapidly than is usual in the case of ordinary brushes. In paintingnarrow surfaces, such as the edges of door and window casings, whichproject at right angles from the adjacent walls,- the guardplate forms acomplete and eflective shield for the latter, at the same time enablingthe entire brush to be in action, since it guards the broad side of thebrush fiber. When the brush has to be redipped, theoperator simplywithdraws his finger from the lug Gr, whereupon the spring K retractsthe guard and exposes the brush fiber.

While I have herein shown and described my invention as embodied in aflat brush, it is obvious that my improved attachment hereinabovedescribed might also be advantageously applied to a brush of the roundor oval type. It is also obvious that changes and modifications in thedetail form and structure of the elements of my improved brush might bemade by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit orsacrificing any of the advantages of the invention, and hence I do notlimit the invention to such detail features except to the extent thatthe latter are made the subject of specific claims.

I claim 1. The combination With a paint-brush, of a guard or shieldoverlying the brush fiber, means connected therewith for normallyretracting the same'to expose the brush fiber, and means connectedtherewith whereby it may be readily advanced over the brush fiber tolimit the spread of the latter, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

2. The combination with a paint-brush, of a guard or shield overlyingthe brush fiber, said guard having a shank embracing and slidablyfitting the head of the brush, a guardretracting spring connected tosaid shank and lugs projecting outwardly from said shank for engagementby the finger of .the operator to advance the guard over the fiber,substantially as described.

3. The combination with a paint-brush having a longitudinally-groovedhandle, of a guard or shield overlying the brush fiber, said guardhaving a shank embracing and slidably fitting the head of the brush andsaid shank having a rearwardly-extending arm overlying said groove ofthe handle, of aguard-retracting spring lying in said groove andengaging the end of said arm, and lugs projecting outwardly from saidshank for engagement by the finger of the operator to advance the guardover the fiber, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a paint-brush having a longitudinally-groovedhandle, of a guard or shield overlying the brush fiber, said guardhaving a shank embracing and slidably fitting the head of the brush andsaid shank having a rearwardly-extending arm overlying said groove withan inwardly-bent end entering the latter, of a guide-rod in said grooveslidably engaged by said inwardly-bent end of the arm, aguard-retracting spring surrounding said rod and abutting at one endagainst the end wall of said groove and at the other against saidinwardly-bent end of the arm, and outwardly-projecting lugs on theopposite side of said shank adapted to be engaged by the finger of theoperator to advance the guard over the fiber, substantially asdescribed.

CARL W. SWANSON.

Witnesses:

SAMUEL N. POND, ADA H. POND.

